Tungsten Carbide-level sponsor

MapQuest is thrilled to sponsor the 2011 State of the Map conference in Denver. The power of open-source mapping unlocks the next wave of innovative LBS apps and we are excited to support OSM’s goals to accelerate growth of the worldwide mapping community

— Christian Dwyer, SVP & GM, AOL/MapQuest

MapQuest is a returing sponsor for State of the Map. They first joined us last year in Girona. I enjoyed meeting some of the MapQuest Open Initiative team last year and I know that you are going to enjoy getting to know them this year.

Okay, State of the Map team, now I really want to book my ticket! When can I do that? 😉

Adding buildings to OpenStreetMap has been difficult in the past. Collecting a GPS trace of a building yields poor results because the building interferes with GPS reception. But buildings can be interesting to have on a map. Large collections of buildings in cities can look very impressive. Lone buildings in remote areas can be important landmarks for navigation. Or a shelter from bad weather.

There are more than 28 million buildings in the OpenStreetMap database. Recent donations to OpenStreetMap contributors of aerial imagery that permits deriving OSM objects without restriction have made mapping buildings practical in more parts of the world.

The Project of the Month for February is to add local buildings to the map.

This is a Project of the Month. Project of the Week returns next week, while PotM will continue until the end of February. These projects inspire mappers to contribute data they might not have considered previously, and allow us to be inspired by the projects of other mappers.

This is your Project of the Month. Make suggestions. Inspire other mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap obession by contributing a Project of the Month.

A financial donation for OpenStreetMap was announced today on the OpenStreetMap Foundation blog. This latest donation follows their dontation in September 2010 and many other activities in the OSM community. Read about the donation on the OSMF blog.

The donation from MapQuest is not earmarked for specific use but will be used to support OpenStreetMap operations. Typically, financial support for OSM allows the purchase of big ticket items like a new database server. You can see from the server upgrades page on the wiki that many other bits and pieces go in to keeping OpenStreetMap moving smoothly.

More great news for OpenStreetMap! A gift of fifty thousand dollars has been donated by MapQuest/AOL to the OpenStreetMap Foundation. The funds follow an earlier donation by MapQuest to the Foundation in September 2010.

Donate today!

Donations to the OpenStreetMap Foundation enable OSMF to acquire and operate the infrastructure that makes OpenStreetMap work. Recently, this has meant exciting things like faster disks and more RAM for OSM servers, but it has also meant improvements in important but mundane things like back-up power and cabling.

Contributions from companies like MapQuest and from individuals like you are what keeps OpenStreetMap going. Your donations of local knowledge and GPS track files keep the OSM database growing. And your contributions of time, expertise and financial support allow the OSM infrastructure to grow with the database.

Banks banks banks. Not the banks of a river, but financial institutions. I’ll just run out to the bank for a moment. But which bank is closest and most convenient? Do you need a bank with wheelchair access, or with drive through service? Or are you looking for a late night automated teller machine? We can put all of this information on the map and that is the Project of the Week. Map your local banks.

This is your Project of the Week. Make suggestions. Inspire other mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap interests by contributing a Project of the Week.

Every week a lot of things are happening in the OpenStreetMap (OSM) world. It can be hard to keep track of all the different communication channels and don’t miss any important news. That’s why we’ve created a short summary of all the news here. Enjoy!